Along with the greater China population, the population of Beijing has also been growing at breakneck speed. In the 10 years between the 2000 and 2010 censuses, the number of people living in the city grew by 44% - from 13,569,194 in 2000 to 19,612,368 in 2010. Although this last ten years has seen the most rapid growth in the city's modern history, the city has been consistently growing at a fast pace - the average growth rate since the 1960s has been around 20% per decade.

Even today, the city continues to grow. Although there are no official estimates of the the population of Beijing in 2016, unofficial estimates put the population at over 21 million. The country's Five-Year Plan, which began in 2016, is expected to keep the population under 23 million through 2020. Some experts believe that in 2050 there will be more than 50 million people living in Beijing.

Is Beijing the largest city in China?

Although Beijing is the capital city of China, there are larger cities in the country. Shanghai is home to over 24 million people in 2016, and is considered to be China's largest city.

Beijing population by city district

Here's a map of the city, broken down into its administrative districts. Those in yellow were part of the old city, while red denotes the central urban area of the city. Inner suburbs are indicated in blue, and outer suburbs in green.

And here's a table listing the population of each Beijing district.

District

Population

Density (per sq/km)

Chaoyang District

3,545,000

7,530

Haidian District

3,281,000

7,702

Fengtai District

2,112,000

6,943

Changping District

1,661,000

1,162

Daxing District

1,365,000

1,349

Xicheng District

1,243,000

26,731

Tongzhou District

1,184,000

1,361

Fangshan District

945,000

506

Dongcheng District

919,000

22,635

Shunyi District

877,000

895

Shijingshan District

616,000

6,860

Miyun County

468,000

200

Pinggu District

416,000

387

Huairou District

373,000

146

Yanqing County

317,000

160

Mentougou District

290,000

218

Beijing demographics

The major ethnic group in Beijing is, as in the rest of the country, Han Chinese. According to the 2010 census, 95.69% of Beijing's residents (excluding anyone from the Red Army) were Han Chinese. Of the remaining 4.31%, the two largest groups are the Manchu (1.84%) and the Hui (1.74%). Rapid economic expansion means that the number of foreigners living in the city is also increasing (notably, approximately 200,000 South Koreans), although there are no accurate statistics available on their populations.

Beijing is the powerhouse of the Chinese economy. Its nominal GDP in 2011 was $247.7 billion, which equates to a per capita GDP of $12,447. Tianjin ($13,058) and Shanghai ($12,783) are the only Chinese cities to have a higher per capita GDP. The city's economy is growing by around 8-10% per year at the moment, so these figures will probably increase still further in the coming years.

Beijing Population Growth

Beijing 's 2016 population is now estimated at 21,240,000. In 1950, the population of Beijing was 1,671,000. Beijing has grown by 856,000 in the last year, which represents a 4.20% change. These population estimates and projections come from the latest revision of the UN World Urbanization Prospects. These estimates represent the Urban agglomeration of Beijing , which typically includes Beijing 's population in addition to adjacent suburban areas.